For better or for worse: looks matter. And when it comes to design, logos make a first and lasting impression. What does your logo say about your company? Believe it or not, how you choose to identify your business can have an adverse effect on how your employees feel about themselves and their jobs. Truly. When I was in college, the hot topic among my fellow design students was our social responsibility and the impact icons/logos can have on the groups they represent. Design, as you know, is not merely about good aesthetics.

Take the handicapped parking symbol, for example: not all handicapped people are in wheelchairs. Yet, the symbol used to represent this broad group is a person in a wheel chair. In fact, not all the disabilities the handicapped symbol has come to represent are even physical. Not only do the icons we use have a profound effect on they way many see themselves, I would even go as far to say that society’s constant exposure to this symbol has had an effect on the way we see the disabled.

On a more positive note, there are employees who love the brands they work for so much, they proudly wear and seek out ways to proclaim their affinity for these companies. Sound crazy? Certain Nike employees have gone so far as to have the swoosh logo tattooed on their ankles. I seriously doubt even the most devoted employees of companies with complicated, confusing and/or unattractive logos will be doing the same anytime soon. No matter how much they love the companies they work for.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a little too politically correct with all this logo stuff, but ultimately we’re talking about your brand’s visual appeal. Just look at the cover of almost any magazine on the rack, not to mention the overstuffed shelves at your local grocery store. You can see visual appeal is a hot commodity. With so much competition and indiscernible differences between brands, visual appeal may be the last great form of product differentiation.

As I’m sure you know, the appeal of your brand is what makes the cash register ring. As the top decision maker in your company, if you don’t take the time to consider how your logo makes you look, or worse, how it make those it represents feel, your bottom line could be impacted.

Some things to consider before deciding on a logo…

The best logos work like a road sign or a warning label. If you are about to open a box from China with contents that are fragile or toxic, you are going to need an easily understood symbol to identify these hazards before you handle the package. If you are driving at night and you come across a sign to warn drivers of curves ahead, chances are you’re not going to have much time to ponder it’s meaning. Icons that caution you are simple because they need to communicate a clear and important message. The same is true for the images that represent your business.

For those of you who may be thinking: “It’s just a logo, it’s not a life or death decision”. I beg to differ. Your corporate identity plays a bigger part in the success of your brand than ever before. Chances are your brand’s identity will only be in front of your prospects for a few seconds. The look of your brand when compared side-by-side with your competition is often the only thing consumers have to go on. Your logo’s ability to be identifiable and to communicate your brand is paramount.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.